Race to the lake (9)

After listening to kids partying down the street until the wee hours of morning, we woke early and packed up camp in between rain showers.  It was too convenient not to get breakfast at the store we slept behind, so we supplemented some leftover pasta salad with bananas, donuts and coffee.  It was our earliest morning yet and we were feeling ambitious since comfortable beds and a rest day were only ~120 miles ahead of us, at the Hogue cottage on Lake Cayuga.

It was exciting to be out of the mountains and have gotten an early start, because we covered 44 miles before noon; our best morning yet.  We enjoyed a quiet back country road to Osceola, NY where the majority of the noise came from birds chirping as we passed by.



We had a laugh when we passed the Mohawk beagle club; imagining a club of little dogs with mohawks running around together! Unfortunately, the only dogs that chased us today were much more intimidating than some little beagles.

For lunch, we stuffed ourselves at Annie’s Diner in Port Ontario. Later, we passed through Mexico and Texas on our way to Fulton, where we would once again divert from our mapped route.  In Fulton Rachel got the first punctured tube of the trip.

We rolled out of Fulton still feeling confident, with only 55 miles left to Lake Cayuga. We hurried while we still had daylight, so our regular breaks (mostly for me to rest my buns) went out the window.  The hills felt like mountains, but we pushed on.


Slightly before 9pm and just outside Auburn, we turned our lights on.  About that same time, a storm rolled in from the SW and the wind picked up significantly.  Luckily it never produced much rain, but the wind alone was a bit demoralizing.  We stopped at convenience store just beyond Auburn for a little extra energy!


At midnight we finally made landfall at the cottage.  Unfortunately we no longer had the motivation and energy to jump in the lake, but knowing we had beds and the next day off felt great!

Trip stats, to date (Day 9)

  • West Leyden, NY to King Ferry, NY
  • Daily mileage: 126mi;  Trip total to date: 587mi
  • Daily riding time: 9hr 51min;  Trip total time: 50hr 10min
  • Daily ascent: 4,118ft;  Trip total ascent: 31,504ft
  • Flat tires: Rachel – 1; Chris – 0

One thought on “Race to the lake (9)”

  1. Mexico & Texas… I’m certain there must be some comfortable beds down there.
    You guys find a worm hole to get back to NY.

    I wonder if those intimidating dogs would like mace.

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